Chapter 1253 Agricultural reform - from the highest yield per unit of land to the highest yield per unit of individuals
"..., he has no other abilities, so his life is very poor, and no one is willing to marry their daughter to him, so he has been a bachelor until this age." Lu Lingfeng explained.
"Then today is the day when he will marry his wife." Yunxi said with a smile, and shouted to Yang Ling: "Tell me, how much less will the harvest be?"
"If we spend half the effort plowing, loosening, mixing, and crushing the soil, the harvest will be reduced by 20%; if we use half the fertilizer, we will lose another 10%." Yang Ling shouted.
"In other words, the harvest will be reduced by 30% in total. Even if you use the new farm tools I will send you, the harvest will be reduced by at least 20%, right?" Yunxi said.
"Yes." Lu Lingfeng agreed first, and other farmers also agreed one after another. Since such a rich man promised to give them new farm tools, he would not deliberately deceive them.
"If you use half your effort less, it is true that the harvest per acre of land will be less. But have you ever thought that if you use the remaining half of your effort to plant another acre of land, you can get 70 to 80% more harvest?" Yun said.
Xi suddenly said.
"This!" Lu Lingfeng was stunned. He never expected that Yunxi would say this.
"Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty has fewer people and more land. Although there are no rich fields outside the capital, there are still in Jiangbei. There are countless fertile fields waiting to be cultivated in Huguang."
"If you change your mind, you can plant twice as many fields with the same effort, and the total harvest can be 60% more!"
What Yunxi said is actually the same principle: change the idea of agriculture from pursuing the highest yield per unit of land to pursuing the highest output per unit of individuals. But he said that farmers must not understand, so after conducting research in the palace,
This ratio was selected for promotion that is best for improving agricultural production.
Such a method can only be implemented in countries with fewer people and more land. The result of implementation when there are more people and less land is that a large number of farmers will become unemployed, and it is impossible for cities to create a large number of new jobs in a short period of time. In the end, it will cause civil unrest or even rebellion.
However, the Ming Dynasty had less than 70 million people at this time, and its territory was extremely vast including the territory of the vassal state. According to Yunxi's calculation, even if all the new farming methods were adopted, so many fields would not be enough to grow, so naturally there was no need to worry.
The farmers couldn't understand the word 'concept', but they could understand other words, and they were quite excited. But someone immediately reacted and shouted: "Sir, there are no fields around the capital! According to what you said,
With so much land in Zhuangzi, half of the farmers can cultivate it, so what will the rest do?"
"I have two ways for you to choose!" Yunxi was already prepared for this topic: "The first is to go to the city to work. I still have many workshops and shops, and I also need craftsmen and workers, and wages
They will not make less money than those who stay in the village and farm the land."
"The second is to go to Jianghuai Province in the north of the Yangtze River to open up wasteland! Jianghuai Province has fewer people and more land, and there are large areas of empty fields."
"Sir, the land in Jianghuai Province is not as good as the capital!" someone shouted. They didn't want to take either of these paths. There is no guarantee in working in the city. If you don't do well and get fired, your life will be completely ruined.
They wanted to go to Jiangbei to open up wasteland, but they were unwilling to do so because it was far away from the capital. However, the matter of opening up wasteland was considered politically correct in the Ming Dynasty. If this man was cruel enough to report it to the court, they would have no choice but to suffer the forced relocation of them to Jiangbei to open up wasteland.
But today the master came to tell them in person, which shows that he has made up his mind. They can only choose one of the two. And most of them will be divided into half by the family with more children. Everyone except the village head family may be sent away. In this way, the two evils are in conflict.
Whichever is easier, they would rather go to Jiangbei to open up wasteland. After all, the fields they open up are their own, and the harvest is always guaranteed.
But people always take advantage when they can, and they can't just agree. So they talked about the problem and wanted to fight for some benefits.
"Anyone who goes to Jiangbei to open up wasteland will be rewarded with a cow! I will also report it to the court, and the court will give you seeds for land reclamation and the like!" Yunxi, of course, saw what they were thinking, and immediately said.
"A cow!" After hearing this, everyone was stunned at first, and then became ecstatic. Although the price of a cow has been declining these days as the trophies are transported to the Central Plains, it is not something that ordinary farmers can afford.
If you can have a cow, it's worth it even to open up wasteland!
However, Yunxi's mood was a little low. He jumped down from the cabinet and said to Lu Lingfeng: "I have already said what needs to be said, and you can handle the rest. Select the people who stay in Heyanzhuang, and the rest.
If there is anyone who is willing to work as a craftsman or clerk in the city, please let me know."
Lu Lingfeng agreed and began to make arrangements. Yunxi himself walked to Zhu Youdou, who had been watching just now, and said, "Does my brother understand the reason for my brother's reforms?"
"Brother understands!" Zhu Youdou looked very happy: "In this way, farmers in Ming Dynasty will be able to plant more fields, and Ming Dynasty's grain output will be more. In the future, even ordinary people will be able to enjoy food all year round.
We have enough food. This is a kind of governance that has never happened since ancient times." He is a smart man and will not be easily fooled by those who write history books. Most of the so-called governance means that ordinary people can eat seven to seven times full, and have enough food when farming is busy.
The meal is pretty good.
"This is not necessarily true. In the early Han Dynasty, the climate was better than now, and the harvests in the fields were also greater. Although there were not as many fields as now, but there were fewer people, it did not necessarily mean that the people could be fed."
"There is also the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. The prosperous Kaiyuan period has been greatly praised by the compilers in the history books, so it may not be all false." Yun Xi said, cheering up. He also believed that the Kaiyuan period in the early Han Dynasty and the Kaiyuan period were also praised by the editors.
The only true governance in Chinese history.
At this time, Zhu Youdou also noticed that he was not in a high mood, and asked curiously: "Brother, this method is so good, and all the farmers in Zhuangzi are willing to implement it. Such a success at that time will benefit the future, why is my brother not happy?"
"
"I wanted all the extra farmers to go to the city to work, but it seems like no one is willing," Yunxi said.
"Brother, wouldn't it be good to let them go to Jiangbei to open up wasteland? Why do you want them to work in the city?"
"Industry is the foundation of a strong country. The so-called no agriculture, no stability, no workers, that's all. I can't explain it to you." Yunxi was not willing to explain more at this time, and Zhu Youdun really couldn't understand, and he said half of it.
I won’t say any more.
Zhu Youdou was about to speak, but suddenly a voice came from not far behind Yunxi: "Master! I have something to report to the master."
"What's the matter?"
"There is a man who is willing to go to the city to work."
"Is there anyone willing to work in the city?" Yunxi perked up slightly and asked, "Who is it?"
"That's Yang Ling who just answered the master's question."
"Is it him?" Yunxi glanced at the man and saw someone standing next to Yang Ling and saying something, but he had a nonchalant look on his face.
"That's all, since you are willing to work, accept him." A smile suddenly appeared on Yunxi's lips: "In the future, he will definitely be the envy of everyone in Heyanzhuang." (To be continued)
